What Made Two Republican Women Back Hillary Clinton

“This Republican is voting for Hillary Clinton,” Jennifer Pierotti Lim proclaimed at the Democratic convention last month. That’s becoming a more common refrain lately, with high-profile Republicans like Meg Whitman throwing their support behind Mrs. Clinton. Ms. Lim, the founder of the volunteer group Republican Women for Hillary, and Meghan Milloy, the group’s chair, spoke in a recent interview about where they agree with the Democratic nominee, where they disagree and what the Republican Party would have to do to win them back.

What made you feel you couldn’t support Donald Trump?

Meghan Milloy: When he started spewing out this rhetoric against women and against minorities. And then when he had these calls to build a wall and keep out all the Mexicans, and to screen every Muslim trying to come into this country.

Once he really started to develop his platform I think we looked at some of these trade policies he’s been calling for: renegotiating NAFTA, pulling out of NATO and his immigration plans, including the Muslim ban. Not only were we faced with vile rhetoric from a campaign, but we were able to look at the policies and say, “This isn’t a Republican, these aren’t Republican values.”

And what made you feel you could vote for Hillary Clinton?

MM: Her career has been very pro-business, pro-trade. Despite how far left she had to come during the primary against Bernie Sanders, she’s been fairly moderate throughout her career. And the fact that she’s supported women’s and children’s issues has made her a very appealing candidate.

Jennifer Pierotti Lim: I think another reason she’s appealing to so many Republicans in this election cycle is she has such a long history of reaching across the aisle. Whether it was her time in the senate or as secretary of state, or even before that, she’s always formed alliances with Republicans and actually gotten things done.

Are there policy areas where you disagree with Mrs. Clinton?

JPL: Obviously she likes a larger government than many Republicans would prefer, and expanding a lot of public services in that same vein. I think we’re obviously going to have disagreements but these policy differences pale in comparison to the dangers that Donald Trump poses to national security, to minority groups, to American rights.

What about reproductive rights? Are you on the same page with Hillary Clinton on that issue?

JPL: Her views are a little bit farther left than I am comfortable with on pro-life issues. But Mike Pence goes in the opposite direction in making me uncomfortable. I think both sides have kind of missed the mark at really addressing the issues at play when it comes to reproductive rights.

MM: One of the big scary things that came out of the Trump campaign, out of Trump’s mouth, was when he said that women who have abortions should be punished by law. That’s obviously not a stance that I think a large majority of Americans would ever agree with. But I’m kind of in the same boat as Jenny: I think both miss the mark. I think Republicans miss the mark way more than Democrats do on this one.

If both sides are missing the mark on reproductive rights, where do you think they should move on the issue?

JPL: Meghan and I say this a lot: We just need to do a better job generally as Americans in being more common-sense when it comes to policies. On one hand addressing the dangers inherent in these medical procedures for women, and on the other side not coming up with policies that are hurting everybody.

MM: I think you look at some of these laws, like Texas most recently, with these arbitrary building codes that at the end of the day are just trying to shut down some of these clinics. That’s not the right way to do things.

I support a woman’s right to choose, nine times out of 10, but the fact that the Democrats want to put so much more taxpayer money in some of these entitlement programs than I think are necessary to really achieve this goal, that’s kind of my concern.

Will you go back to voting Republican after this election? What will the party have to do to win you back?

JPL: I think the Republican Party has left us in this case; we haven’t left the Republican Party.

We often talk about the 2012 autopsy report, and the Republican Party seemed to have a clear idea that they needed to work on their relationship with women and millennials, especially their rhetoric around social issues. How they interact with minority groups. And this whole Trump experience has just taken us fifty years backwards.

If the Republican Party – post-Trump-losing, hopefully – can get their act together and redefine a reasonable platform, then we can talk. But it seems, for now, we kind of are homeless.

MM: I think you’re seeing an electorate, especially the electorate under 40 years old, really move, if not to the left, at least towards the center on many of these social issues. And the Republican Party has continued to move further and further right. I think if the party is really going to retain those millennial and a little bit older than millennial voters, and me specifically, they’re going to have to come towards the center on those issues.

This interview has been condensed and edited. Ms. Lim and Ms. Milloy were speaking for themselves and not on behalf of their employers.